Big crowds, and big rallies
In the second inning of the opener of a doubleheader at South Side Park, Washington’s Dolly Gray set two major league records against the White Sox: He walked eight batters in the inning, and seven of them consecutive. Patsy Dougherty led off the inning with a single, and No. 5 hitter Frank Isbell either sacrificed Doughtery to second or made an out (game play-by-play isn’t available). And then, the parade of walks — from No. 6 hitter Lee Tannehill all the way back through the order to Doughtery — began. The White Sox scored six in the inning, all “driven in” with walks.
The second time Doughtery went to bat, with six straight walks already in the books, White Sox manager Billy Sullivan suggested Doughtery leave his bat in the dugout.
The White Sox won, 6-4, with only Doughtery’s single hit. Gray’s one-hitter came with 11 additional walks, so there was still a lot of traffic on the bases!
Interestingly, it marks the third time Doughtery has had the only hit for his team in a game, and it still will happen once more in his career.
The White Sox also won the nightcap, 2-1, walking just twice.
It was the most grueling stretch of baseball in major league history: A series of rainouts forced the White Sox to play six consecutive doubleheaders on six consecutive days from August 23-28. They played four games against the Yankees in two days, six games against the Red Sox in three days and two games against the Athletics. All were on the road.
For the month, the White Sox had to play 13 doubleheaders! Despite the daunting stretch of games, they finished the month with a record of 16-22 — not bad at all.
In front of a Sunday crowd of 50,990 — 15th-biggest in White Sox/Comiskey Park/Chicago history — the White Sox split a twinbill with the Yankees, losing, 6-1, then triumphing, 3-2. The split kept the 77-51 White Sox a half-game behind the Yankees for first place in the AL, but by their next game, a 7-5 win over Boston on August 30, the South Siders (briefly) returned to first.
Of all the crazy games and things that have happened when the Sox played at Baltimore, this one topped the list. The Sox started the day 2 ½ games behind the Yankees and trailed the O’s 3-0 going into the eighth inning. With two outs, Luis Aparicio, Nellie Fox and Roy Sievers ripped consecutive singles, scoring a run and putting the tying runs on base. Manager Al Lopez called on Ted Kluszewski to pinch-hit.
Big Klu drilled a pitch from Milt Pappas into the right-field stands for an apparent three-run homer, except for one small thing …
Third base umpire Ed Hurley called time!
Nobody remembered seeing him do it, but he refused to change his call. Fox was ejected in the confrontation afterwards and Lopez played the game under protest. Hurley called time right before the pitch to tell Sox players Floyd Robinson and Earl Torgeson that they were warming up in the wrong area. The next day, Hurley was quoted in the newspapers as saying ”I wish to heck I hadn’t called it; I’d gladly take it back ...”
The end result was the Sox lost, 3-1, and were now three games behind the Yankees. Kluszewski later recalled that this game was the one that broke the team’s spirit that season.
In if not the worst, then the shortest start of his career, Wilbur Wood was routed from an eventual 10-1 loss to the Brewers having recorded just one out while falling behind, 4-0. The big blow came on a Comiskey Park roof shot from Sal Bando.
It was the 21st and final “true” home run on the roof, coming before home plate was moved up eight feet, prior to the 1983 season. The final White Sox “true” roof shot had come on June 4, 1977, clubbed by Richie Zisk.
Greg Luzinski completed his “downtown Triple Crown” by blasting a pitch from Boston’s Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd over the Comiskey Park roof in left-center field. It was Luzinski’s third roof shot in 1983, with the others coming against the Twins and Yankees. Greg would have four rooftop home runs in his White Sox career. The Sox took care of Boston on this afternoon, 6-2.
Frank Thomas, who would become the White Sox all-time home run leader, belted his first big-league round tripper. Thomas connected in the ninth inning of a game at the Metrodome, off of Minnesota’s Gary Wayne. The Sox lost that day, 12-6.
Thomas had 448 home runs in a Sox uniform.
The White Sox and Rangers combined for 14 home runs in a doubleheader at Comiskey Park, tying the American League mark. The teams hit seven in the first game, seven in the second. Texas and the Sox split the two games on the day.
